What a relief! Three points and three goals… but let’s not pretend that all our problems are over.

While there was plenty to celebrate in Stoke’s early Christmas present to their extremely patient fans, such as cool finishes and a confident home debut from young Tom Edwards, arguably Stoke actually played better for longer in the game against West Ham than they did against West Brom.

Read More

In fact, had Salomon Rondon not found an old pair of boots that used to be worn by his predecessor as Albion striker Saido Berahino with which to fire a succession of chances high wide and handsome, this could have been a very different column.

Stoke City were, frankly, lucky to come up against the current worst team in the division. Albion are devoid of goals and confidence and yet Stoke somehow managed to hand them the advantage and give us all an attack of the heebie jeebies for the entire second half.

Maxim Choupo-Moting celebrates his goal for Stoke City against West Brom with Peter Crouch and Joe Allen. (Image: Malcolm Hart)

Thank heavens for Santa’s helper Jack Butland. A flying save low to his left with what seemed like his little finger stopped the one effort Rondon managed to get on target late in the first half and then he was assuredness personified as West Brom flung ball after ball into the Stoke penalty area. This was Butland back to his best. His kicking still requires improvement, but he gets our defence out of crisis after crisis on a regular basis.

Read More

And that defence is still a patchwork quilt of an affair. The goal which we did concede to Rondon’s other decent effort on target (let’s face it, he couldn’t really miss) saw Ryan Shawcross turning like an oil tanker after he’d pushed up in a vain attempt to leave the Albion striker in an offside position and Tom Edwards drop back, playing the Baggies’ man on.

Tom Edwards runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Stoke City and West Brom at the bet365 Stadium. (Image: Gareth Copley)

Meanwhile, Kevin Wimmer at left-back fits as well as Donald Trump in the White House, while City’s central midfield at times left the defence as exposed as a naturist in the arctic tundra.

But in that gaping hole we did find the impressive form of Geoff Cameron, in his natural environment at last. If nothing else, the emergence of Edwards may release the fully fit again Cameron from covering at right-back to provide much needed energy and drive in the middle of the pitch.

Read More

Up front, the deft Max Choupo-Moting had one of his best games for the club so far, returning to his Manchester United heights . His finish for the vital second goal was sublime, using both feet to outwit four Albion players at close quarters, while he showed his unselfish side by setting up Ramadan Sobhi for the clinching third deep into heart-stopping injury time which had seen two very close calls on the Stoke goal.

Salomon Rondon celebrates after scoring the West Brom goal at the bet365 Stadium. (Image: Alex Morton)

It was breathless, but the only difference between this 3-1 victory and the 0-3 result the previous Saturday was that Stoke took their chances while the opposition didn’t. Against West Ham it was the other way round . The margins are so small and it can be about a spot of composure here or a decision going your way there.

Read More

While we lost out on a massive penalty call last weekend, one of the things which seems to have gone unsaid in the aftermath of this week’s vital win was that Albion should have had a penalty with the score at 2-1 when Jay Rodriguez was pushed but didn’t go down.

It was a clear foul, but on this occasion Stoke came out on the right side of things. Whether you feel that balances up last week’s game-changing call or not, the point is that that was a key difference between the outcome of the two games.

Mark Hughes is a happy man as Joe Allen scores. (Image: Alex Morton)

Who knows what would have happened has the score gone to 2-2 with the momentum with the visitors. We have spent all week crying about a refereeing decision which went badly against us. This week it will be Albion supporters’ turn.

Read More

Personally, I won’t be any more relaxed about Stoke’s position in the Premier League until we are playing well enough all over the pitch to rule out those elements of chance from affecting our results.

So, farewell to 2017. It’s been mostly average-to-terrible, so at least 2018 can’t be any worse…. Can it?!

Merry Christmas everyone. See you for some turkey curry on the way to Huddersfield on Boxing Day.